Venice's attractions submerged as city experiences worst flood in 50 years

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Venice was hit by the highest tide in more than 50 years yesterday, with tourists wading through flooded streets to seek shelter as a fierce wind whipped up waves in Piazza San Marco, also known as St Mark's Square.

The exceptionally intense "acqua alta", or high waters, peaked at 1.87 metres as the flood alarm sounded across the Italian city of canals, the tide monitoring centre said.

"We're currently facing an exceptionally high tide. Everyone has been mobilised to cope with the emergency," Venice's mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted.

Venice was hit by the highest tide in more than 50 years yesterday, with tourists wading through flooded streets to seek shelter as a fierce wind whipped up waves in Piazza San Marco, also known as St Mark's Square.

The exceptionally intense "acqua alta", or high waters, peaked at 1.87 metres as the flood alarm sounded across the Italian city of canals, the tide monitoring centre said.

"We're currently facing an exceptionally high tide. Everyone has been mobilised to cope with the emergency," Venice's mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted.

A couple of French tourists caught out said they had "effectively swum" after some of the wooden platforms placed around the city in areas prone to flooding overturned.

Since 2003, a massive infrastructure project has been under way to protect the city, but it has been plagued by cost overruns, scandals and delays.

St Mark's Square is particularly affected by the high tides, as it is located in one of the lowest parts of the city.

Last night, the vestibule of the basilica was inundated with water. Pierpaolo Campostrini, a member of St. Mark's council, said the scale of the flooding on Tuesday had only been seen five times in the long history of the basilica, where construction began in 828 and which was rebuilt after a fire in 1063.
Source: https://www.thenational.ae

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